Try this thought on for size: Reason serves more than one purpose, can be used correctly or incorrectly, even misused. Ever notice you can do a lot of different things with your hands. Well, you can do a lot of different things with reason, too, some useful, some not.

For centuries thinkers have assumed that the uniquely human capacity for reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perception and reflex in the search for truth. Rationality allowed a solitary thinker to blaze a path to philosophical, moral and scientific enlightenment.

Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments…